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4th Imperial Family Guards Rifle Regiment (Russian Empire)
|branch = *Life Guards|dates = 1854—1918 1919—1920|role = Rifles|size = Battalion, later Regiment|command_structure = Guards Rifle Brigade|patron = Nicholas the Wonderworker|battles = Crimean War Russian-Turkish War 1877-1878 World War I}}The 4th Guards Rifle Regiment, officially known as 4th (Imperial Family) Life Guards Rifle Regiment was a infantry unit of the Imperial Russian Army. The regiment was first formed by order of Emperor Nicholas I as a reserve unit formed by members from the St Petersburg Area. The unit was disbanded in 1918 following the October Revolution. History On 25 October 1854 Emperor Nicholas I ordered a regiment to be formed if the army was mobilised. This regiment was to be known as The Infantry Regiment of the Imperial Family, and was finally embodied by 21 July 1855. After formation, the regiment recruited mostly from the following provinces; Novgorod, Arkhangelsk, and Vologda. This regiment was used as a reserve unit based in St Petersburg as a result of the fear of a British invasion, during the Crimean War. Just a few weeks after being formed, the regiment moved to the port city of Odessa where they were garrisoned to cover the city in the event of an allied landing. However, during this time typhoid disease made its mark in the regiment, with 1,001 (out of 3,200) personnel dying. Because of their large losses, the regiment didn't see any action during the war.Russian Wikipedia PageOfficers of the Russian Imperial ArmyRussian Army in the Great War In 1956 following the demobilisation of the Guard Corps, the regiment was disbanded, but was ordered to be formed during mobilisation yet remain disbanded in peacetime. The regiment was as a result reduced to battalion size and renamed as the Life Guard Infantry Battalion of the Imperial Family. After being reduced, the battalion was based in Gatchina, just outside of St Petersburg. In 1857 the regiment's structure was regulated for peace time, in the following; 4 Officers, 4 Sergeant-Majors, 80 NCO's, 21 Mountaineers Reconnaissance, 96 Corporals, and 820 Privates. In 1863 the battalion took part in the suppression of the Polish Uprusing and stationed in the Vilna Military District. In 1870 the new Guards Rifle Brigade was formed, and by order of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich the battalion was placed under the brigade. On 1 September 1871 the battalion was renamed as the 4th Life Guards Rifle Battalion of the Imperial Family. From 1877-78 the battalion served in the Russo-Turkish War of that same year. By 1910 the battalion was doubled and renamed as the 4th Life Guards Rifle Regiment of the Imperial Family. This change, was marked by a small parade at their home barracksPuntusova, Galina. Àðìèÿ â Ãàò÷Èíå â Ïåðèîä 1783-1917 Ãã., http://history-gatchina.ru/article/gatarmy.htmHandbook of the Russian Army 1914 Just before mobilisation for World War I, the regiment was stationed in Tsarskoye Selo under the command of the Guards Rifle Brigade, itself within the Guards Corps. The regiment had the following structure; * Regimental Headquarters ** Regimental Band ** 1st Line Regimental Transportation ** 2nd Line Regimental Transportation * Communication Department * Scout Department * 1st Battalion ** Battalion Staff (HQ) ** Scouts Section ** 1st Company ** 2nd Company ** 3rd Company ** 4th Company ** Non-Combatant Company * 2nd Battalion (Same as 1st, but 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th Companies) * Machine-gun Detachment Sized After mobilising, the regiment formed a reserve battalion, known as the Reserve Battalion of the 4th Life Guards Rifle Regiment. Following the February Revolution, the regiment was renamed as the 4th Guards Infantry Regiment, and by 24 June 1917 was placed in effective suspended animation, and disbanded in 1918 following the October Revolution. In the summer of 1919, a company within the new Rifle Battalion of the 2nd Consolidated Regiment of the Guards Rifle Division was formed. This new unit formed in the Russian White Army just after the explosion of the Russian Civil War. By October, the company doubled and by 1920 was expanded to a battalion within the Consolidated Guards Infantry Regiment. The regiment was finally disbanded that same year after the end of the civil war, and general peace between the two sides. Regimental Commanders Commanders-in-Chief * Commanders-in-Chief for Regiment ** 1856—1881 Emperor Alexander II ** 1881—1894 Emperor Alexander III ** 1894—1917 Nicholas II * Commanders-in-Chief for Battalions **'1st Battalion' *** 1855—1856 Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich ** 2nd Battalion *** 1855—1856 Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich the Elder ** 3rd Battalion *** 1855—1856 Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich ** Companies *** 1856—1892 2nd Company - Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolaevich ***1905—1915 2nd Company - Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich ***1856—1891 3rd Company - Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich the Elder ***1905—1917 3rd Company - Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich the Younger ***1856—1909 4th Company - Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich Battalion/Regimental Commanders * 1854—1856 Colonel Dmitry Alekseevich Arbuzov * 1856—1858 Major General His Majesty and His Grace Prince Boris Dmitrievich Golitsyn * 1858—1859 Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Nikolaevich Guryev * 1859—1861 Colonel Count Nikolai Vasilievich Levashov * 1861—1863 Major General Grigory Ivanovich Chertkov * 1863—1868 Colonel Sergey Lvovich Davydov * 1868—1876 Colonel Alexey Alexandrovich Chelishchev * 1876—1879 Major General Count Vladimir Petrovich Kleinmichel * 1879—1883 Colonel Prince Vladimir Anatolyevich Baryatinsky * 1883—1887 Colonel Count Fedor Eduardovich Keller * 1887—1893 Major General Alexander Alexandrovich Evreinov * 1893—1894 Major General Count Pavel Petrovich Shuvalov * 1894—1898 Major General Nikolai Akimovich Pavlovsky * 1989—1901 Major General Konstantin Petrovich Tyrtov * 1901—1905 Major General Baron Evgeny Emilievich Fitingof * 1905—1906 Colonel Peter Alexandrovich, Prince of Oldenburg * 1906—1910 Major General Vsevolod Vladimirovich Chernavin * 1910—1915 Major General His Majesty Konstantin Alexandrovich Goltgoer * 1915—1917 Major General His Majesty Mikhail Nikolaevich Skalon * 1917—1917 Colonel Alexander Mikhailovich Gragomirov * 1917—1917 Colonel Lebedev * 1917—1917 Colonel Konstantin Konstaintinovich Merzedin References Sources * “4-й Стрелковый Императорской Фамилии Лейб-Гвардии Полк.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 9 July 2018, https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/4-й_стрелковый_Императорской_фамилии_лейб-гвардии_полк * “Лейб-Гвардии 4-й Стрелковый Императорской Фамилии Полк.” Лейб-Гвардии 4-й Стрелковый Императорской Фамилии Полк - Офицеры Русской Императорской Армии, http://ria1914.info/index.php/Лейб-гвардии_4-й_стрелковый_Императорской_фамилии_батальон * “The Russian Army in the Great War.” Russian Army in the First World War, http://www.grwar.ru/regiments/regiments.html * “Russian Imperial Army Archives.” Russian Central Archives, http://guides.rusarchives.ru/browse/guidebook.html?bid=239 * “Лейб-Гвардии 4-й Стрелковый Императорской Фамилии Полк.” На Главную, https://gwar.mil.ru/army/151/?backurl=/army/?military_unit_name=4-й стрелковый Императорской фамилии лейб-гвардии полк&page=1 *"Handbook of the Russian Army 1914" The General Staff, The War Office (United Kingdom) from Imperial War Museum, London ISBN 1-870423-67-4 Category:Regiments of the Imperial Russian Army Category:Guards Regiments of the Imperial Russian Army Category:Infantry Regiments of the Imperial Russian Army Category:Rifle Regiments of the Imperial Russian Army Category:Military units and formations established in 1854 Category:Military units and formations established in 1919 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1918 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1920